The Gospel Writers

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are the first four books of the New Testament. All of them tell the story of Jesus’ life, even though none of writers actually knew Jesus when he was alive. These stories were written many years after Jesus had died. Each Gospel has a different way of telling what happened, and what it all means.

Each Gospel tells the story of Jesus, however they tell it in four different ways. Each Gospel book has the name of a male writer; so many people think that each book’s author must have been a first century man from Palestine who had that name.

There are many different scholars who look at who might have written the Gospels. Some believe that men named Mark, Matthew, Luke or John wrote the texts. Others believe that each Gospel shows writing from one main writer, and other people added smaller parts to this.

The Gospel of Luke

Luke’s Gospel is book one in a two-book set. The book of Acts is the other book in the New Testament that is said to be written by Luke. The author of Luke’s Gospel wanted to write an account of Jesus’ life for his readers.

At the start of the Gospel, Luke says who he is writing for – a man called Theophilus: So I made a careful study of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. Honourable Theophilus (Luke 1: 3-4)

Luke was a Gentile, which meant he was not Jewish, and so his audience was probably Gentile as well. The author of Luke wanted to show that Jesus had loved and cared for the poor and the weak.

There are 3 main groups of people that Luke had Jesus meet in the Gospel the poor the outcast and women

The poor In Luke’s Gospel Jesus made people think about how the world worked where the rich were important and the poor didn’t matter. In the stories of Jesus, the rich are challenged to give up this way of life.

An example is the story of Zacchaeus, who was a rich and corrupt tax collector. In the story Jesus meets with Zacchaeus and then he asks for forgiveness and gives half of what he owns to the poor.

The outcasts In the Gospel of Luke Jesus met with many people who were pushed away from society.

In the Gospel of Luke the writer shows Jesus mixing with people who were not liked in his time: tax collectors - who were disliked because they worked for the Roman occupiers the Samaritans - a neighbouring country and lepers - who unclean, so were often feared and kept out of the community.

Women In Jesus’ day, women were seen as not being as important as men. They weren’t allowed to testify in court, and they did not usually go to school.

Luke’s Gospel shows how Jesus treated women differently, by teaching them, including them, and treating women in need with care and love.

There are many stories of women in the Gospel of Luke, and Luke even begins his Gospel with the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The Acts of the Apostles

The Gospel of Luke was probably written between 80 and 90 C.E. and the Acts of the Apostles probably in the decade following. The Acts of the Apostles Acts tells the story of the Early Christian church. The early chapters are set in Jerusalem, and they describe the Day of Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit) and the growth of the Church in Jerusalem. Under the guidance of the Apostle Peter, the message of Jesus is taken to the Gentile, or non-Jewish, communities. The later chapters of Acts tell of Paul's conversion, his mission in Asia Minor and the Aegean, and finally his imprisonment in Rome.

One of the key stories found in the Acts of the Apostles is the story of Pentecost. The scripture story remembers the coming of the Holy Spirit to the first disciples and begins the Acts of the Apostles. Read the scripture text in Acts 2: 1-13Acts 2: 1-13

The day of ‘Pentecost’(the fiftieth day) is the name that was used by Greek-speaking Jews for the harvest festival, which was also called the ‘Feast of Weeks’, or Shavuot. This festival celebrated the end of the grain harvest. The fifty days were counted from the day after the Sabbath following the Passover and the eating of the unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:15-16). Shavuot also commemorates the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

In the Christian church, Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church, and the start of the Church's mission to the world. Pentecost is celebrated by many (but not all) Christians on the Sunday 50 days after Easter. The liturgical colour for Pentecost is red and at this time in a church you may see designs in the sacred space such as a symbol of a dove, and also the flames in which the Holy Spirit came to earth.

Images from And Clip Art